


The Red Summer

by kristimoon



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Major Illness, Multi, POV First Person, POV Multiple, Trans Female Character, written like a memoir
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 10:10:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8663491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kristimoon/pseuds/kristimoon
Summary: Many things happened during the Red Summer.  Some shall not even be spoken of.  But how did they occur?  Many people have written their viewpoint on the events of the Red Summer, and they all tell a profound story.





	1. Introductory Note

**Author's Note:**

> This is just an introduction to the story itself, that has little to do with the plot whatsoever.

At the beginning of this story we are about to tell you, King Endre Bondevik was on the throne of Kustaa. By the end of this story, that will have changed. My brother Lukas Bondevik had no interest in marrying, or even wooing or being wooed by anyone. That also changed, though he would've never admitted it. As for me, Alastair Kirkland and I were to be married and I was known only for my pretty teenage looks. That outcome took a sharp turn, though I am still working toward the latter. Emil Bondevik, my younger brother, was a feisty little shit when this all happened. That hasn't changed at all, even now. But how did these dramatic changes occur? The answer is why this collection exists.

  
The events of the Red Summer in Kustaa are well known nowadays, but most only know the events of it, not how or why they happened. So I have gathered not only my own personal journal entries from the time; but also the entries of my brothers, Ivan Braginsky, Berwald Oxenstierna, Tino Väinämöinen, Alfred F. Jones, and Leon Wang; as well as interviews from countless other people; and joined them together to create this memoir of the Red Summer.

  
Our story began in Halstein, the busiest port city in all of Kustaa. In order to completely understand the point of view of most of the contributors, we need to go even further back in time than even the year the Red Summer took place. The exact spot we will start at is the moment King Endre and Queen Ingrid first met.

  
-From the desk of Princess Astrid Bondevik, with love


	2. The Beginning- Lukas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lukas Bondevik explains how Ingrid and Endre first met, and his early life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, Astrid would represent the Faroe Islands in canon, though I didn't tag her as such because it isn't that important to the story. My goal was to create a story that could stand on its own. Ingrid and Endre don't represent any country, they're only meant to be the main characters' parents.

My mother and father met in Halstein, during the springtime. That's the only part of the story they can agree upon. My father told the story like this: he was walking through one of Halstein's many parks, examining the blooms, when he looked up and saw someone more beautiful than any of them. Your mor, Lukie, he'd always say. He wouldn't tell anymore past that point, probably because I was very young when he told these stories to me. But I also think it was because he didn't think there was any more of the story to tell. And the rest is history, he'd always end with.

  
My mother didn't tell the story that way. According to her, she was walking through her favorite park, and saw a handsome man staring at her. Then said handsome man fell into a fountain, not paying attention to where he was going, and she realized that it was the bumbling idiot known as Prince Endre Bondevik. She'd laugh at that part, and I'd laugh with her, my sister Astrid laughed with her (from the point she was alive and able to understand), and even my father laughed with her.

  
The story continued with Ingrid, my mother, helping the poor soul out of the fountain, getting water out of his lungs, so on and so forth. Endre said it was love at first sight, Ingrid said they fell in love after a few years of knowing each other. I agreed with my mother's side of the story, which explained why I was never interested in romantic pursuits the way my sister was. My parents can agree on the story about their marriage, however. Endre was going back to Torsten for a few years, he didn't want to leave Ingrid behind, so he proposed to her. They were married soon after and went to Torsten together. A year after they arrived there, I was born.

  
The entire castle celebrated that day, because it was considered good luck for a prince to produce his heir before he was on the throne. Soon after, Endre's father died of old age, and a big coronation ceremony took place in the castle. My mother said I was unusually quiet during the party, not crying or screaming like she expected a baby would do, but just looking at the people who passed by. She'd always say that it was foretelling what I'd be like the rest of my life. Endre used to say it felt nice to call Ingrid his queen rather than his wife, because, a word like wife is too meek and lowly for someone like your mother. It had better be, Ingrid replied with. We'd all laugh when she said that, but it was true. My mother was one of the strongest people I had ever known. It was often said that she'd never lost a single fight she'd participated in. Later, my father joked about how that was where Emil got his feistiness.

  
About two years after I was born, my sister Astrid was born, during an unusually warm summer, by Torsten's standards. Ingrid said that was where Astrid got her infectious happiness. The palace had a slightly smaller celebration for her birth, than for mine. I remember some parts of it, people placing gifts by her cradle, esteemed priests and noblemen placing blessings on her, and sitting in Ingrid's lap and eating cake. I also remember Lord Kirkland coming to the celebration all the way from Halstein and discussing something with Endre, pointing to Astrid as he spoke.

  
We stayed in Torsten until I was about four years old and Astrid was almost two. Ingrid was longing for her old home and decided we should live in the palace there for a few years. Endre agreed, not knowing that when we got onto the carriage, she was pregnant with her third child, Emil. So a few months after we had settled in to the castle in Halstein, Ingrid gave birth to Emil and told Endre, "That's it. I'm not having any more kids."  
Time went on, and soon after I turned nine years old, Endre and Ingrid decided it was about time we head back to Torsten. "They haven't met Emil yet," Endre explained to Astrid and I, "and he'll be turning five soon." Little did anyone know, the black fever would delay our return to Torsten.

* * *

 

By this time, the black fever was feared in Halstein, but not many people were infected with it, so we had no reason to worry about it. Until one day, Astrid, Emil, and I were playing with some of the nobles' children in a flowered field. Most of the boys looked through the flowers to find the most beautiful ones to give to Astrid. One of them, Alastair Kirkland, held an entire bunch of flowers in his hand and ran toward Astrid. "These are for you, my beautiful one," Alastair said, kneeling in front of Astrid. Astrid looked confusedly at him, probably wondering why a boy seven years older than her thought she was beautiful, but accepted the flowers anyway.

  
She had a small pile of them accumulating next to her, and she was twisting them into crowns and chains and putting them on herself. At one point she put one of the crowns on me, and another on Emil. "Got yourself a crown of violets, don't you?" A son of a local salesman ran up to me and sat next to me in the grass. "Yeah, idiot, what does it look like?" I replied. "I want one of those crowns!" he continued. "Astrid made this for me," I told him, "if you want one, ask her." "My name's Matthias," the kid said, holding out his hand. "Lukas," I said, shaking his hand, though I assumed he already knew my name. Matthias ran off toward Astrid and shouted, "Can you make me a flower crown? I like red flowers!" "Sure I can," Astrid shouted back. "Actually, can you teach me to make one?" Matthias said, seeing she was already busy with another crown. "Sure I can," she said.

  
I walked toward Astrid and Matthias and watched them make flower crowns. It was fascinating how they had to link the stems together. Eventually, Matthias finished making his flower crown and put it on his head. Tufts of his blond hair stuck out above the flowers, making it look as though flowers grew out of his head. "Look, Matthias has flowers in his hair," one of the boys shouted from further out into the field. "The princes have flower crowns, so why can't I have one?" Matthias replied. Apparently, the other boys didn't realize Emil and I both sported flower crowns, so they all ran up to Astrid, demanding her to teach them to make one.

  
"Papa could make a fortune off these," Matthias said, sitting back down. "What does your father do for a living?" I asked him. "He's a salesman," he replied, "and he makes a lot of things he sells too. My sisters and I always help him make things to sell. At least my sisters used to." "What happened to your sisters?" I asked. "Black fever," he said, "all five of them." Then I remembered something Ingrid said about one of her friend's daughters all getting the disease. "Is your mother Cecilie Kohler?" I asked. "Yeah, that's my mama," Matthias exclaimed. "Our mothers used to be very good friends," I said. "Maybe we can be good friends too?" Matthias said, looking at me with a hopeful expression. I didn't want to tell him I was leaving in a matter of days to Torsten, and I didn't know how long it would be until we returned to Halstein. "Someday, I suppose," I said, patting his shoulder. Then we went back to watching Astrid make flower crowns.

  
"So first, you gotta pick the leaves off the stem, and then..." Astrid paused in her instruction and started coughing. The boy she was teaching, Alastair's brother Arthur, gave her a handkerchief, which she accepted and continued coughing in. I scooted closer to her as she coughed, putting a hand on her back in case she was choking. But she wasn't, because a second later, she stopped coughing and inspected the handkerchief, which had a large spot of blood on it, with little black spots spread throughout it. "Take her to the doctor right now," Matthias said, suddenly a lot more serious than he was a second before, "that's the black fever."

  
The boys gathered around Astrid started talking amongst themselves in fear. Meanwhile Matthias and I were helping Astrid to her feet and rushing her inside the palace. "Are you sure it's the black fever?" I asked Matthias. "All five of my sisters had it," Matthias said, "I know it when I see it. Those black spots are a pretty good indicator." Emil trotted along behind us, asking why we were going inside, complaining that he was having fun outside, not understanding the direness of the situation. Meanwhile, Astrid started another bout of coughing, and I held the hankie to her mouth while Matthias tried to lead Emil back outside. We reached the palace's clinic, which served people who worked and lived in the palace, and called for Irunya, the head nurse. She came a few seconds later, panting, "Lukas, what's the trouble?" I showed her the hankie Astrid was coughing in, because I was in shock about the situation. How did my sister get the black fever? The causes of the disease were unknown, but many suspected it was contagious. Could she have gotten it from Matthias? Irunya looked at the hankie and gasped.

  
"Thank you for coming straight to me," she said, leading Astrid and I inside the clinic, "I've been researching the black fever ever since the first outbreaks in this city." "Do you know where Astrid could've gotten it from?" I said. "I'm not entirely sure of how it spreads," Irunya said, "but I do know that the disease is caused by a virus, so that if one were to survive, they'd never be infected again. I also know that it only affects those who are biologically female. The only male patients that have ever made records were not born such. Men cannot even be carriers of the disease." I breathed out a sigh of relief. So there was no way Matthias could've given her a deadly disease. Irunya picked Astrid up, placed her on a cot, and wheeled her toward the sick ward.

  
I started to turn around and notify Matthias, Emil, and the others of the bad news; but then Irunya snapped her fingers to get my attention. "There's something in the sick ward I think you should see," Irunya said, beckoning for me to follow her. As she walked forward, she slipped on her sterile face mask, and I had a feeling there were more than just a few people in there. We entered the sick ward and for a few seconds all I heard was coughing. Cough, cough, cough. Irunya pushed Astrid's cot toward an empty spot near a wall. "I'm going to tell my brother and the king the bad news," Irunya said, walking out of the sick ward. I understood why she'd be telling Endre, though he wouldn't like hearing that his only daughter was ill. I suspected Ivan wouldn't like the news, either. But it was odd how she didn't mention Ingrid. She wasn't naive enough to not find out eventually. "Lukas," a weak voice said to Astrid's right, "what are you doing here?" I walked over to the cot the voice came from, and saw a woman lying there. She looked familiar, but unlike Astrid, she'd changed into a hospital gown. Then she shifted, and I saw nutmeg brown hair, and my mother's face. "Mor?" I said.

  
Astrid sat up in her cot, disbelieving. "Why is Astrid with you?" Ingrid said, "She could get terribly sick." "Astrid already is sick," I said. Ingrid started sobbing. "What will your father say?" she said. "Irunya just left to go tell him and Vanya," I said. "No, that's not what I meant," she said, "bring Emil here, I want to see him." I nodded, then walked out of the sick ward back towards the field.

  
When I got to the field, no one was there except Matthias and Emil. "Is Astrid okay, big brother?" Emil said. "No," I said, "her and Mor are both sick." "What?" Emil said, starting to cry. "Don't cry," Matthias said, petting Emil's hair. "Mor wants to see you in the sick ward," I said, taking Emil's hand in mine. "Goodbye," Matthias said, walking away. I waved to Matthias and led Emil toward the clinic. On our way to the clinic, we saw Alfred Jones walking toward us. "Hey," he said, "Artie told me Astrid was sick. Is that true?" "Yes it is," I said. "Hope she gets better, dude," Alfred said, and walked away, probably to resume his duties as a guard apprentice.

  
The first thing I heard when I reentered the sick ward was my father screaming. "Why?" he said, pacing around the room, "God knows that I've only known my wife and daughter a short time, and He's already trying to take them away from me?!" "Calm down, Your Highness," Ivan, who I'd just noticed was in the room, said, "Katyusha will take good care of them. She is an expert in dealing with the black fever." "There's no possible way you can understand how I feel!" Endre snapped. I sneaked around their conversation toward Ingrid's cot. I picked Emil up and placed him on it, next to Ingrid, then moved closer to Astrid's cot. "How long has he been like this?" I asked her, leaning over the edge of the cot. "Since Katyusha brought him in here," Astrid replied, her voice already sounding strained from the coughing. "How did Vanya react?" I said. "He wasn't too worried about me," Astrid said, "but he was pretty concerned about Mor." Ivan then noticed I was in the room, and beckoned me to come closer to him. "I think your father wants to talk to you," he said, patting my head. I walked over to Endre, and he turned around and looked at me. "My son," he said after a short silence. "Far," I replied.

  
Endre took my arm and led me outside the sick ward. He led us up a flight of stairs to a balcony, where there was a table and two chairs set up. I sat down on one of the chairs, and Endre sat on the other one, across from me. "I could look at this view for the rest of my life," he sighed, "I always used to come up here when I was around your age. To look at the city, the sunrise, the sunset, the stars, sometimes just to read a book, mostly just to be alone. When I was older, I took your mother up here so we could eat lunch together. Ever since you were born, I've only hoped that you, and Astrid, and Emil, could all have a special someone to bring up here."

  
The last statement felt odd to think about. I wasn't even interested in marrying. Astrid certainly was, but she was betrothed. Emil was only five years old, why would he be thinking about marriage? Endre took something out of his pants pocket, a hair clip. "Irunya said that since your mother is an adult, there's little chance she'd survive the black fever," Endre said, showing me the hair clip, "so I wanted to give this to you. There's many things of value that belong to me that are one day to be yours, but this is the one thing your mother wanted to give you. It's a hair clip, and she always used to wear it before we got married. She wanted it to be yours because your hairs always in your face and she wanted you to have something to keep it out of your face." I took the hair clip, and pinned a chunk of my hair off to the side. I liked the feeling of not having to blow hair out of my face every five seconds. "Now, I need you to listen to me," he continued, leaning on the table, "take good care of Astrid while she's sick. Irunya told me that she may go through lung contractions, and that they hurt. A lot. You're gonna have to be there for her. And Emil, too. I can't imagine what's going on in that little head of his."

  
We walked back to the sick ward together, and I saw Ivan on the floor reading a story to Emil and Astrid. Well, it looked like he was only reading to Emil, to calm him down, but Astrid was listening over the edge of her cot. Someone had changed her into a hospital gown while we were gone, and put her flower crowns and chains on a bedside table. It seemed as though Ingrid was asleep in her cot, Irunya right next to her, checking her heartbeat. Ivan stopped reading his story, and looked at Endre and I. "Did you say what you needed to, Your Highness?" Ivan said, smiling. "Yes I did," Endre replied, then looked back at me, "Lukas, stay here with Ivan. I have work to do in my study." I walked over to Ivan and looked at the book he was reading from. It was called the Swan Princess. I'd never seen that book before, so I sat down and listened. Emil crawled over to me and sat in my lap as Ivan started reading again.

  
I had no idea what would happen next.


End file.
